Coaching boys and girls? Different, but the same

March 21, 2013

Updated 1:17 p.m.

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Melissa Fernandez, head coach of the Ocean View girls and boys water polo teams, gathers with the girls squad after their Division 7 game against Hemet at the Woollett Aquatics Center in February. STEVEN GEORGES, FOR THE REGISTER

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Edison's head coach Diggy Riley gives advice to one of his two high school teams, the girls' water polo squad. LORI SHEPLER, FOR THE REGISTER

Melissa Fernandez, head coach of the Ocean View girls and boys water polo teams, gathers with the girls squad after their Division 7 game against Hemet at the Woollett Aquatics Center in February.STEVEN GEORGES, FOR THE REGISTER

It was as if Melissa Fernandez were walking the plank, preparing to dive into boy-infested waters.

"Before that first practice with the boys, I had to think what I was going to do. So I thought to get in the water and play with them. I got in that first day and I was beating them in all the conditioning drills and schooled them in water polo and it turned out to be a great idea."

Fernandez is the boys and girls water polo coach at Ocean View High School, a dual-position that she transitioned into straight out of college in 2005. She is one of nearly 20 coaches at Ocean View, Marina, Edison and Huntington Beach High School that leads both boys and girls high school teams in one sport.

The feat isn't considered rare, especially in water polo, volleyball, tennis and running sports. But in Fernandez's case, a woman coaching boys in water polo is not the most common of scenarios.

"You don't see it a whole lot," Fernandez said. "When I took over the team, I was just coming out of college, so coaching the boys was definitely a big fear. I'm 22 and some of them are 17 or 18, so I didn't know if they would respect me."

Fernandez played college water polo at UC Irvine and graduated just months before taking the dual-job at Ocean View. Luckily for her, the conditioning hadn't worn off, which helped her in dominating the boys during their inaugural practice.

"As soon as I walked out onto the deck that day, I could tell they were looking at me like, 'Who is this girl?'" Fernandez said. "But when I beat them, I earned their respect."

As it turned out, Fernandez said coaching the boys has been the same, if not easier, than coaching the girls since girls expect a more nurturing relationship with a female coach.

"You don't have to be as concerned with yelling at the boys to push them," Fernandez said. "They won't take it as personally. In fact, it's more of a challenge coaching girls as a girl. I think girls can have a thicker skin if they're being yelled at by a guy. Coming from a girl, they expect a little more compassion."

Joining Fernandez as a double-duty coach at Ocean View is Seth Cutrell, who has coached boys volleyball since 2010, then the girls in 2011.

Cutrell said the greatest difference between coaching the two comes in the motivational department.

"I find that boys and girls are motivated by different things," he said. "It's a lot easier to motivate the boys with running and push-ups, things like that. With girls, it's not as physical. What I found to work is talking to them more and not making them run lines, for example."

In the case of Cutrell and other males that coach young women, there is obvious concern regarding their approach. The sight of a man reprimanding a teenage girl has the potential to incite discomfort in parents and onlookers.

However, Cutrell said in order to be effective as a leader, outside factors, including parents, cannot come into play when coaching.

"The parental aspect of either team doesn't bother me," he said. "If I'm getting on their child, it's because something needs to be changed and there's a better way to do it."

Surfing legend Andy Verdone is the boys and girls surf coach at Huntington Beach High School, and he says that as a parent of a boy and a girl, he has learned treating both parties with respect is important above all else.

"I do treat the athletes on my team equally with respect and just like I would have my own kids treated," he said. "I have evolved through the years as a coach and find that treating females and males as athletes without bias works as long as you realize their individuality."

There does seem to be a gender bias when it comes to competitive nature within boys as opposed to girls, at least in the eyes of Fernandez and Cutrell.

Both Fernandez and Cutrell mentioned that boys, more so than girls, seem to have an innate competitive nature.

"I like coaching them both equally, but I like the physical aspect of boys a little more," Cutrell said. "They're not afraid to sacrifice their bodies and dive on the ground. Girls play it a little safer."

Fernandez said that the girls' strength is maturity, while the boys bring a higher level of ferocity to practice each day.

"The boys are a bit more competitive on a daily basis, not just in the games, so it makes practice a little more beneficial," she said. "The girls look at each other as teammates and not competitors. So it can be more difficult to make them go above and beyond on a daily basis."

Edison volleyball Coach Trent Jackson has overseen the girls program for 10 years and is in his first year with the boys.

Already, he has become aware of the psychological differences between the boys and girls.

"I would say girls want to know that you care about them and they'll play hard for you," he said. "Guys don't care as much about that. I try to keep it as 'we,' especially with the girls. With the guys, I call them out a little bit more. I'll say 'you' have to get this done."

In regards to competitive nature, Jackson said that personalities are often paramount to gender.

Jackson pointed to a former player, Cassie Strickland, as an example of one of the fiercest players he had ever coached.

"Cassie would run through a wall to get a ball," Jackson said. "There are girls that can sass with the best of them and guys that are stubborn as heck. So it's totally a personality thing, not a gender thing."

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